Every now and then someone
comes up to me and tells me they wish they had a job like mine. They say
I get paid to do what I like doing anyway – so what kind of real “job”
is that? Well I must confess that it’s not an entirely inaccurate
description, because even after more than 25 years of mucking around in
the kitchen, I still get as much of a kick out of putting together a
great recipe as I did when I was an overly enthusiastic young student at
the London Cordon Bleu.

Upon returning to KL,
getting employment in a commercial kitchen was easy, but sticking to
the unsociable, back-breaking hours and lean pay was harder. My
impatient, ambitious young soul was starting to rebel against the
mind-numbing routine that forms much of the workday of a lowly
pastry cook stuck in the bowels of a large hotel kitchen. (Make
30-egg sponge cakes, split said cakes into three, perfectly
horizontal layers, spread with butter cream and so on, infinitum....
) As soon as the opportunity presented itself, I made a switch to
working with food - still my first love - from a more comfortable
position. I did that by sweet-talking the editor of Her
World magazine into hiring me as their resident food writer
(and even now I still work with them).

Happily installed in an
office filled with interesting people, a Poggenpohl kitchen and
photo studio, I spent seven thoroughly enjoyable years filling the
food pages of that wonderful magazine with appealing, workable
recipes and eye catching pictures – a skill I still use today in my
work as a recipe consultant to food companies, restaurants and
publications.

When I’m not teaching classes, developing recipes, writing about
food or styling pictures for photography, and more recently, looking
after our interesting guests at Bayan Indah, I take the time to
travel, eat, prowl markets and explore the ever-exciting,
fascinating world of food. Did I hear you say that I had a great
job? I think so too. If you want to contact me about my work or
about attending a class or a little stay at Bayan Indah, my email is
rohani@bayanindah.com - I look forward to hearing from you!